Week 14 is in the books and the Kansas City Chiefs are the first AFC team to clinch the playoffs. Let’s take a look the NFL standings around the league.
After a nerve-racking game, the Kansas City Chiefs pulled out a win over the Baltimore Ravens to secure a spot in the postseason. The Chiefs also got some help from the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts, who beat the New England Patriots and Houston Texans respectively, which gives the Chiefs a comfortable lead for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Elsewhere in the AFC West, the Denver Broncos took a trip to San Francisco to take on the 49ers and walked away with a loss. The Los Angeles Chargers hosted the Cincinnati Bengals and won, largely due to kicker Michael Badgley’s outstanding performance. The Oakland Raiders played the Pittsburgh Steelers and escaped with a narrow win.
In a key AFC matchup, the Chiefs prevailed in overtime over the Ravens. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes continued to look like his normal superhuman self. He completed 35/53 passes for 377 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Along the way, he threw this beautiful no-look pass:
No look, no problem for @PatrickMahomes5 😎 https://t.co/DiWqR75lh9
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 9, 2018
As well as this amazing 4th down and 9 pass:
WOAH 🤯🤯🤯 https://t.co/aYdUdC0hmb
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 9, 2018
Though wide receiver Tyreek Hill left with an ankle injury during the first half of the game, he returned and ended the day with 8 receptions for 139 yards. Coming off a career game against the Oakland Raiders last week, tight end Travis Kelce continued to play well and caught 7 passes for 77 yards and 1 touchdown. The Chiefs ultimately escaped with a narrow overtime win over the Ravens, 27-24.
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The Broncos went into San Francisco and were shutout in the 1st half. They returned to the favor to the 49ers in the 2nd half, but by then they had already allowed 20 points. Broncos quarterback Case Keenum completed 24/42 passes for 186 yards and 1 touchdown. With wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders out due to a torn achilles sustained during practice, all eyes were on rookie Courtland Sutton to be Denver’s #1 receiver. Instead, it was another rookie wide receiver who had the better game: DaeSean Hamilton, who caught 7 passes for 47 yards and 1 touchdown. The Broncos ultimately were unable to overcome a 20 point deficit and lost to the 49ers 20-14.
With Melvin Gordon out again, the Chargers turned to running backs Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson for their matchup against the Bengals. Ekeler led the backfield and carried the ball 15 times for 66 yards and 1 touchdown, but aggravated a neck injury late in the game and is in jeopardy of missing Thursday night’s game against the Chiefs. Jackson carried the ball 7 times for only 12 yards. Quarterback Philip Rivers completed 19/29 of his passes for 220 yards and 1 touchdown, but kicker Michael Badgley was the Chargers’ MVP of the day as he went a perfect 4/4, which included a franchise record 59-yarder. The Chargers were able to win 26-21 over the Bengals.
The Raiders and Steelers stayed close throughout the game. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr completed 25/34 of his passes for 322 yards and 2 touchdowns. Running back Doug Martin ran the ball 16 times for a measly 32 yards and 1 touchdown, but their performances were ultimately enough for the Raiders to take a 3 point lead over the Steelers within the final minute of the game. The Steelers marched down into field goal range after a lateral, which set up kicker Chris Boswell for 40-yard attempt to tie the game. Boswell slipped as he stepped up to the ball and missed, allowing the Raiders to sneak away with a 24-21 win.
Here are the NFL standings around the league: